Michelle Chan

Fall 2016
SOC2004S
University of Washington, University of Cape Town
Supervisor: Martha Kavhai

A Look at the Black Lives Matter Movement in South Africa

In 1994, apartheid came to an end in South Africa after several decades of
institutionalized segregation. Many hoped that the democratic transition would usher in a new
era of peace and democratic stability. Todays South Africa, twenty two years after the end of
apartheid, boasts one of Africas fastest growing economies and a relatively stable political
landscape (cia.gov, 2015). Yet this growth and stability comes at what cost - and for who does it
serve? South Africas income inequality remains among the highest in the world, with wealth
disproportionately concentrated in the white population, bearing repercussions not only for
economic inequality but education, social institutions, and more (cia.gov, 2015).
In my time as a student at the University of Cape Town this past semester I was struck
by the apparent inequality that still exists in many aspects of South African society despite the
formal end of apartheid a generation ago. With student protests shutting down university for the
#FeesMustFall movement, I was also left to reflect on both the historical and present, lingering
effects of colonization and European domination on non-white South Africans. Though an
imprecise comparison, I was strongly reminded of the Black Lives Matter movement in the
United States, begun in 2012 after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of Trayvon
Martin (blacklivesmatter.com, 2017). I was thus unsurprised to find that a similar movement has
sprung up in Africa regarding related issues of historical black disempowerment and its current
effects. Thus this report, undertaken as an ad hoc honors project at the University of Washington
and University of Cape Town, aims to summarize the Black Lives Matter movement in South
Africa and also touches on the #FeesMustFall movement that occurred in the latter half of 2016.
Before I begin this admittedly non-comprehensive summary, I want to disclaim that as a
non-Black person, I am not nor should I be the authoritative voice on Black struggle in America
and South Africa. I realize the position of privilege I have in studying this topic as an
Asian-American cishet female. Instead, I can only attempt to summarize what has been presented
as the history of South Africa and the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as draw on my own
experiences during my time in Cape Town. From this report, rather, I hope to gain a fuller
understanding of the movement for myself and be able to relate this back to other Americans,
perhaps Asian-Americans, who find themselves apathetic to social justice movements such as
BLM in America or around the world.
Before focusing on the Black Lives Matter movement in South Africa, I think it would be
helpful to contextualize some of the history behind the movements in both South Africa and
America.
The history of the Black Lives Matter movement in America began officially in 2012
with the aforementioned acquittal of George Zimmerman, the murderer of unarmed black teen
Trayvon Martin. But, of course, the systematic oppression of black people in America extends
much further back than that. Slavery existed for nearly over three hundred years in America
before being officially abolished in 1863, but black people continued to suffer unequal rights
under Jim Crow and other racist policies well into 20th century. The civil rights movements of
the 1960s led to more explicitly equal legislation and formally ended segregation in the States
(history.com, 2016).
The Black Lives Matter movement, however, builds on black liberation movements by
taking a more intersectional approach, as outlined by Kimberle Crenshaw and other scholars in
the 1990s. According to the movements website, BLM goes
beyond the narrow nationalism that can be prevalent within Black communities, which
merely call on Black people to love Black, live Black and buy Black, keeping straight cis
Black men in the front of the movement while our sisters, queer and trans and disabled
folk take up roles in the background or not at all. Black Lives Matter affirms the lives of
Black queer and trans folks, disabled folks, black-undocumented folks, folks with
records, women and all Black lives along the gender spectrum. It centers those that have
been marginalized within Black liberation movements. It is a tactic to (re)build the Black
liberation movement (blacklivesmatter.com, 2017).
Thus Black Lives Matter attempts to account for issues of gender, ableism, class, immigration in
describing black struggle.
 The success of Black Lives Matter in the United States of raising awareness has lent itself
to movements across the African continent, including South Africa. In much of Africa centuries
of colonial domination has left deep scars on infrastructure, economy, social institutions, and
more. In South Africa this is also the case. The Black Lives Matter movement in the States was
originally started in response to police brutality; in this iteration, BLM is definitely applicable to
the situation in South Africa. Sipho Hlongwane cites that in 2013 a South African police officer
was twice as likely to kill someone as an American cop; additionally, a police officer was 4.3
times more likely to be killed (Hlongwane 2016).
Other instances of police brutality in South Africa include the death of Andries Tatane in
2011 and Mido Macia in 2013 were both caught on camera. Most recently, the Marikana
massacre of 34 miners just three years ago was not only a tragic loss of lives but a flagrant
violation and corruption of police force. Yet in all of these cases the officers involved faced no
major punishments (Hlongwane 2016), similar to many cases in the United States.
And indeed, these culminated in marches on the US Consulate in South Africa in July
2016. Around 50 or so protesters marched to the consulate in July 2016, holding up signs
proclaiming stop killing blacks, black pride, among other messages (Etheridge 2016). A
protester stated that the BSE as a collective stands with all oppressed black people
internationally, and sees the violence perpetuated against black people in America as a direct
attack on black people universally (Oduor 2016). However, though these protests certainly
spurred awareness and some media attention, they seem to have died down.
This is not to say that the movement has not continued, though not under the label of
Black Lives Matter specifically. I wish to now briefly explore the Fees Must Fall movement
which began in September 2016, about two months after the BLM protests in Cape Town.
Though there were many factors culminating in student protests at universities throughout South
Africa, the major one cited was a proposed fee increase for universities. Given the wide income
inequality between white and POC families, particularly black ones, equal access to education
was questioned as many families would not be able to afford sending their children to higher
education. Also brought into question was the misallocation of funds by the government -
protestors argued that there were indeed enough funds to not only negate tuition increases but to
make higher education free for all eventually. A spokesperson from the UDESMO movement
summarizes as such:
As a democratic we have a moral obligation to provide our youth with the opportunity to
gain the skills and qualification necessary to this a winning nation. It is not about
handouts, but about investing in the future prosperity of our country. Nor is it a question
of a lack of revenue, but rather the skewed priorities of the ANC government. Vast sums
of money are misspent, wrongly allocated, or outright looted by corrupt politicians and
officials (UDESMO 2016).

To fully hash out the causes and resolutions of the student protests is beyond the scope of

this essay; Saleem Badat writes in great detail about the protests. However, the scale of the Fees

Must Fall movement proves that not only are black students ready and willing to mobilize, the

fight is not over.

The Black Lives Matter movement in America spurred a global awareness of not only
police brutality against black bodies, but reinvigorated discussions of black liberation and
empowerment movements. In South Africa, a country also marred by a past of racial division
and oppression, the BLM movement seems to have briefly took hold in response to police
violence such as the Marikana massacre. These discussions seem to have simmered down since
July of last year; however, this is not to say that discussions around black empowerment have not
continued, as witnessed by the Fees Must Fall Movement that swept South African universities
later in the year. As an international student in Cape Town, this was my first time processing
issues of decolonization and police oppression. I acknowledge that I will likely never have to
face the oppression faced by black students and bodies in general as a middle-class
Asian-American, and thus write this report fully acknowledging my lack of personal contribution
to this cause. However, my experience in Cape Town - whether through lectures or witnessing
the discourse around Fees Must Fall- and knowledge gained from writing this report has
certainly opened my eyes to the ways in which black bodies continue to be marginalized. Time
will tell how the struggle will play out for true equality not only in South Africa or America but
worldwide.
References
Badat, S. (2016). Deciphering the Meanings, and Explaining the South African Higher
Education Student Protests of 2015-16.

Black Lives Matter. (2017). About. [online] Available at: http://blacklivesmatter.com/about/.

Cia.gov. (2015). The World Factbook Central Intelligence Agency. [online] Available at:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sf.html.

Etheridge, J. (2016). Cape Town group marches on US consulate over #blacklivesmatter.

[online] News24. Available at:
http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/cape-town-group-marches-on-us-consulate-ove
r-blacklivesmatter-20160713 [Accessed 9 Jan. 2017].

HISTORY.com. (2016). Civil Rights Movement - Black History - HISTORY.com. [online]

Available at: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement.

Hlongwane, S. (2016). Tatane, Macia, Marikana: South Africa's own #BlackLivesMatter

moment is long overdue. [online] The M&G Online. Available at:
http://mg.co.za/article/2016-07-14-00-tatane-macia-marikana-south-africas-own-blacklives
matter-moment-is-long-overdue.

Oduor, M. (2016). South Africans demonstrate in support of 'Black Lives Matter' | Africanews.
[online] Africanews. Available at:
http://www.africanews.com/2016/07/14/south-africans-demonstrate-in-support-of-black-live
s-matter/.

UDESMO, (2016). Fees must fall #FeesMustFall movement.